Some fans slow to throw support behind Flames after NHL lockout

Valerie Fortney, Calgary Herald01.18.2013

John Batas and his son Michael, 14, are part of a “hockey family through and through,” who will be at Sunday’s season opener. But the Calgary father and restaurant owner says he has seen a big change in the devotion to NHL hockey by a growing number of local fans.

CALGARY - For the past three decades, John Batas’ downtown restaurant Michael’s has been a popular hangout for both Calgary Flames players and fans.

During the latest NHL lockout, though, he noticed something of a sea change in those fans. “About 60 per cent of my customers have said they’ll go back to hockey, but 40 per cent say they’ve just had it,” he says. “I’ve never seen the split that close before. It’s left a sour taste in my mouth, too.”

Before you chalk his statements up to just another fickle fan, consider Batas’ pedigree: for years, his late father, Michael, could be seen on TV at every home game, cheering wildly for the Flames from his seat between the two players’ benches.

Named the Flames’ Biggest Fan in 1989 when they won the Stanley Cup, his restaurateur dad passed his love of the game on to his son, who has since passed it on to his own son, Michael. “My dad went on the road with the team,” says Batas, whose family’s season tickets were bought when the team arrived in Calgary in 1980. “We’re a hockey family through and through.”

As the Calgary Flames prepare for their first game Sunday in this abbreviated season, Batas’ observations mirror the results of a survey released this week.

Research group Insights West found that prior to the lockout, 46 per cent of Albertans polled considered themselves to be “fanatical”, “huge” or “regular fans”, but this proportion has fallen to 24 per cent post-lockout.

I spend Thursday doing my own polling of sorts, gauging the temperature of the most loyal of Flames fans: those hardy souls who have held on to their season tickets through thick and thin, victory and defeat. While they have that in common, though, their responses to the lockout range from acceptance and mild indignation, to outright anger.

“I’ll be at Sunday’s game,” says Tammy Truman, a Flames fan since 1988 and season-ticket holder since 1994. “But when those players come on the ice, I hope it’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.”

She’s not alone: on Thursday, Calgary company DIRTT Environmental Solutions encouraged fellow ticket-holders to wear black to Sunday’s opener rather than the usual “C” of red, to voice their disgust with the way fans have been treated.

Truman, who adds she will not clap for the team even if they score a few goals, reluctantly concedes that perhaps all is not lost. “In time, I suppose these feelings will pass. I will stand up for them eventually . . . if they give me something to stand up for.”

Like Truman, Brad Duggan sees the lockout as having the effect of a bad romantic breakup. For him, though, the time apart has fostered an indifference he’s never felt before.

“Yeah, I was the guy with my bald head painted red,” Duggan, who runs a video game store in Strathmore, says with a laugh of his many years following the Flames on the road. “I can’t see myself doing that anymore.”

Duggan says the combination of running a business and chasing three young kids around the house, with “all the petty squabbling” between owners and players, has made him lose the love. “I sold my tickets to Sunday’s game,” says the longtime season-ticket holder. “But I’ll still probably watch it with my kids at home.”

Selling extra tickets isn’t as easy as it was pre-lockout, says Kim Thomas. The man known as Santa around the Saddledome thanks to his white beard and red hat, Thomas was one of the first to line up for season tickets back in 1988. “I have nine seats, which I sell at face value to friends,” says Thomas, who counts Flames games as a vital part of his social life. “Some of the guys who’ve bought tickets from me for decades are now turning them down.”

Thomas says that while he, too, is upset with what has transpired, he will be at Sunday’s game. “I haven’t gone away as a fan — I’m just disappointed.”

Frank Sisson is the only diehard fan I reach on this day willing to strike a conciliatory pose. “C’mon, it’s time to get over it,” says the longtime Flames fan who celebrated his 75th birthday this week. “I bet that if the Flames win their first three games, all will be forgiven.”

Sisson adds that rejection from longtime Flames fans translates into an opportunity for those waiting in the wings. “I think there will be more than a few people lining up to buy those tickets.”

While John Batas isn’t quite ready to forgive and forget, he admits that he can’t imagine life without NHL hockey. “We’ll be at Sunday’s game,” says Batas, who, like Sisson, believes a solid performance by his beloved team out of the gates will go a long way to mending fences. “The rage will go down,” says Batas, who adds many of his still-angry customers have started up their hockey pools. “We love our hockey — seeing some good hockey played could make all the difference.”

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